tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57399552018-03-19T12:11:32.864-07:00Angelman's PlaceAn avid cinéaste, time-tripping through the fourth dimension, in search of beauty, truth and timeless escapist entertainmentangelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-72271707967856181112018-01-27T04:25:00.000-08:002018-01-27T04:51:57.545-08:00Lady Diana: A Supreme Movie Debut
In November 2017 the American Music Awards bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award on Miss Diana Ross, and it was a triumphant moment—dazzlingly attired, with a voluminous cape resembling a rare bird’s plumage, Ross commanded the stage for a brief medley of her greatest hits, and it was almost like the old days. We had not seen The Boss sparkle like that for a long time.
Miss Ross has been angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-78645652239152896462017-12-28T03:17:00.000-08:002017-12-29T03:43:19.441-08:00George Bailey, The Everyman's Holiday Hero
Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life is a yearly holiday tradition for me; I faithfully watch it every Christmas Eve. As someone who often suffers from melancholy and sadness during this supposedly joyful time of the year—and I know I am not alone—I look forward to this film as an annual year-end experience of personal catharsis and healing.
The hero’s journey taken by protagonist angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-66093112134524035002017-12-10T06:48:00.000-08:002017-12-10T09:54:23.943-08:00A Funny, Talented, Beautiful Girl
Last December, I finally got to see Barbra Streisand perform live, after a lifetime of loving and idolizing her. La Streisand was truly divine, in full command of her voice and her talents, and transported us through a half century of her greatest hits, including a few of the famous Christmas songs she had not sung for decades. It was magical. (That concert tour, "The Music, The Mem'ries, The angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-47843693142129506812017-10-27T04:08:00.001-07:002017-10-27T04:08:51.691-07:00The Devil and Johnny Depp
A film lover’s Halloween would not be complete without an annual horror movie film festival—mine usually lasts the entire month of October, as the genre is near and dear to my heart. And so is the devilishly attractive Mr. Johnny Depp, so I knew exactly which film I wanted to celebrate this year.
Though not on a scale with modern horror masterpieces like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-88807390366060422322017-09-29T03:30:00.000-07:002017-09-29T03:30:47.134-07:00Big Talents, Giant Movie
My
sister and her family recently moved to Dallas, so I’ve had the
opportunity to visit there a couple of times. I had a blast there, and
confirmed for myself the old aphorism that “everything’s big in Texas”:
big guns, big food, big hair, big smiles and big Southern hospitality.
And, of course, big pride for a great state that was once the biggest in the union.
The 1956 film Giant angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-81598041913738889532017-05-24T09:53:00.002-07:002017-05-30T12:19:43.144-07:00Roman's Baby
I was an avid reader from an early age, always raiding my parents’
bookshelf for material that was usually a bit above my head. My
favorites, though, were my dad’s horror and suspense titles—Harvest Home
by Tom Tryon, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and, best of all,
the amazing Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin, a novel that was so cleverly
and cinematically written that it played angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-23198833229589838862017-04-25T14:54:00.000-07:002017-04-26T06:51:48.456-07:00Oh Damien, You Devil
Horror movies are among my chief cinematic pleasures, and the one that scared me the most as a child was The Omen (1976). I begged my father to take me to see it, and he reluctantly complied, but it scared the bejesus out of me and I was forced to sleep with a night light on for years to come. I would even run out of the room in terror whenever the TV commercial for the film would come on...angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-26956577635215095632017-04-05T10:03:00.000-07:002017-04-20T01:20:39.931-07:00The Gothic Grandeur of Baby Jane
I first read of the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane in a paperback
book published by Pyramid in the 1970s, entitled Karloff and Company:
The Horror Film by Robert F. Moss. It was a slim volume that had a
surprisingly exhaustive series of essays about the development of the
horror genre, all the way from Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
up through the 1960s-70s Hammer Film angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-7591807512540438912017-01-26T15:13:00.004-08:002017-02-01T03:00:10.134-08:00A Thoroughly Pre-Modern Mary
On January 25, 2017, Mary Tyler Moore passed away at the age of 80. In both of her unforgettable TV roles, as adorable housewife Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and as self-sufficient “woman on her own” Mary Richards on her eponymous Mary Tyler Moore Show, Moore radiated a persona of cheerfulness, optimism and determination despite a personal life with more than its share of challenges,angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-89070898359741102872017-01-04T15:10:00.000-08:002018-03-09T11:16:28.448-08:00A Postcard from CarrieTo the world at large, she’ll undoubtedly be best remembered as Princess Leia. But Carrie Fisher gave us so much more than just one iconic portrayal. She lives on in my movie collection as the aforementioned rebel princess in the original Star Wars trilogy; as nymphomaniac Lee Grant’s rebellious yet equally promiscuous daughter in Shampoo; and as kooky Dianne Wiest’s romantic rival for Sam angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-48850260356200366692016-08-10T13:42:00.000-07:002018-03-08T13:57:59.281-08:00Lovely Rita, Lethal Gilda
They say the love of a good woman can save a fallen man. Gilda (1946) is not about that kind of woman. It’s the story of a sultry siren who leads a man to his destruction, and with wanton malice aforethought. Masterfully directed by Charles Vidor, Gilda is textbook film noir, chock full of all the elements that define this quintessential 1940s genre.
Lurid and suggestive rather than angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-16596947376142294752016-06-21T13:17:00.001-07:002016-06-28T14:41:00.745-07:00Make Way for Myra
1970 was the first and only year that an X-rated film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. (No, not this one...that was Midnight Cowboy.) But America’s then-reigning sex symbol and the top box office blonde of yesteryear appeared together in an X-rated film in 1970 too.
Myra Breckinridge (1970) will go down in history as one of the weirdest films ever made. An ignominious flop when angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-66479762079214730082016-06-01T06:42:00.000-07:002016-06-01T11:44:21.990-07:00A Longtime Gay Classic
In the 1980s, the rise of the independent film gave us a window on the world largely unseen in mainstream entertainment and storytelling. Gay-themed stories were being told brilliantly and poignantly in films like Maurice, Parting Glances, My Beautiful Laundrette and Prick Up Your Ears. Longtime Companion (1989) is one of the very best of that period.
The film is among the very first to angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-51160036003892964652016-05-16T06:16:00.002-07:002016-05-16T11:50:28.901-07:00The Queen of Mean
When a 2016 presidential candidate was recently described as “Lucifer in the flesh,” the first image to flash into my mind was not a politician at all, but rather a slim, elegant and impeccably dressed woman played in a movie by Meryl Streep.
Based upon Lauren Weisberger’s roman a clef novel, inspired by a stint as assistant to none other than Vogue maven Anna Wintour, The Devil Wearsangelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-49628090918971452642016-03-21T10:43:00.001-07:002016-03-21T13:05:01.969-07:00Elvis Kicks the Movie Habit
Have you seen the one where Mary Tyler Moore plays a nun opposite Elvis Presley as a doctor? More of a curiosity than a movie classic, Change of Habit (1969) has some surprisingly entertaining moments, and marked a turning point for both its iconic stars.
By the time he made Change of Habit, Elvis Presley had starred in 30 films, the lion’s share of them puerile, formulaic vehicles designed angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-41587683359916237902016-02-26T02:23:00.001-08:002016-02-27T12:52:34.255-08:00The Best Actress of 1958—Auntie Roz
It’s absolutely incredible to
me that so many of our greatest film stars never won an Oscar...Barbara
Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Natalie Wood, Marlene Dietrich and Richard Burton
come to mind. Rosalind Russell was nominated four times, and really
should have won for Auntie Mame (1958).
In my opinion, Rosalind
Russell’s iconic, bravura performance in the film adaptation of her
Broadway angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-86656110806815323542016-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:002016-02-12T15:35:27.569-08:00There's No Girls Like Showgirls
Showgirls
(1995) is one of the most flamboyantly fabulous failures in film
history, which makes it a must-watch for any self-respecting cinema
voyeur. If you’ve seen it more than once, chances are you’ll want to see
it again and again. It’s so, so ill-conceived and tasteless, you can’t
possibly look away.
Stylistically,
the film is a throwback to the schlock cinema of a bygone angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-67536424958903135552016-02-05T16:17:00.003-08:002016-02-05T16:34:40.160-08:00Lost Perspective
While making Lost Horizon (1973), the creators of this gargantuan, ignominious flop certainly lost sight of the horizon of entertainment and good taste. What were they thinking? Is this disastrous epic the result of Hollywood neglect and excess—too much LSD, loco weed and California fruit salad—or was this film the accurate fulfillment of their artistic aspirations? Did anyone involved angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-84154096182517307802016-01-12T09:30:00.000-08:002016-01-12T10:12:26.190-08:00A Goldmine of Glam
The recent death of music legend David Bowie at the age of 69 signaled the end of an era; the loss of a great talent and one of the most influential pop culture icons of our time. Though he was 69, the youthful, impish Bowie appeared never to have grown old. To the end, he remained a music industry sex symbol, ever hip and au courant.
Bowie was the chief inspiration of master filmmaker angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-15006747222452028422016-01-06T16:05:00.001-08:002016-01-08T07:54:00.481-08:00I Want My Mommie!
Reading Rutanya Alda’s recent book on the making of Mommie Dearest (1981) triggered me to take an umpteenth look at a fascinating film that never gets old to me, and an iconic star performance by Faye Dunaway that forever changed the trajectory of her career.
In her personal diary of the filming of this camp opus, Alda, who played the downtrodden and underappreciated secretary/companion angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-56910977495832215932015-12-24T08:28:00.001-08:002016-02-13T06:19:02.842-08:00All About Showbiz Evil
Making it to the top of the heap in the show business world requires guts, stamina, talent, and above all, determination and ambition. Is it any wonder that All About Eve is the quintessential Bette Davis movie, as well as the ultimate backstage soap opera?
Merrill, Davis, Sanders, Baxter, Marlowe and Holm—a powerhouse cast
Based on a 1946 Cosmopolitan magazine article, “The Wisdom of angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-34453687359294680242015-06-03T03:41:00.002-07:002015-06-03T03:41:47.812-07:00Hitch's Final Plot
A celebrated director’s final film is rarely his or her most shining moment; most don’t end their careers on as high a note as Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments). No one cites Charlie Chaplin’s A Countess from Hong Kong or Billy Wilder’s Buddy Buddy among those auteurs’ greatest triumphs. Alfred Hitchcock’s last film may not be among the very best for the Master of Suspense, but the angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-46010442491307071432015-04-17T04:09:00.001-07:002016-01-12T10:11:39.243-08:00Mildred à Deux
Strong woman. Single mother. Never having to depend on a man, enjoying the thrill of making it on her own, but willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of her beloved daughter. That’s Mildred Pierce in a nutshell. Both film versions of James M. Cain’s gritty 1941 novel—the 1945 Warner Brothers classic and the 2011 HBO miniseries—are masterful works in their own right, with very angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-52495651094043835612015-04-03T14:25:00.000-07:002015-04-03T14:26:25.238-07:00Endless Splendor, Star-Crossed Sex
I was 15 years old when Endless Love hit the theaters in 1981. Because it had been given an R rating by the MPAA, I was still not old enough to be admitted without a parent or guardian, even though the story was all about people almost exactly my age. So I had to sneak in. (First time I had ever done this was to see Saturday Night Fever at the age of 11...I found a seat next to a angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739955.post-41670698682762426162015-03-12T17:05:00.002-07:002015-03-12T17:16:01.761-07:00Judy D. Takes On Judy G.
Playing an iconic star in a musical biopic is a risk for any actor, but a few have risen to the challenge and triumphed: Sissy Spacek (Loretta Lynn), Angela Bassett (Tina Turner), Jamie Fox (Ray Charles), Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon (Johnny and June Carter Cash) come to mind. Other talented performers have crashed and burned: Julie Andrews (Gertrude Lawrence), Val Kilmer (Jim angelman66http://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com5